This series of six paintings was painted in order to be
reproduced in a series of engravings made after it. The pictures
making up the series are highly moraslistic, full of symbols and
relating a story of decline ending in death.

I - The first five pictures

A - Match the titles of the first five pictures and the
pictures. The titles are:

a) The Inspection

b) The Death of the Earl

c) The Marriage Contract

d) The Toilette

e) Early in the Morning

a) Picture _____

b) Picture _____

c) Picture _____

d) Picture _____

e) Picture _____

B - Read the following descriptions . What pictures are they
related to ?

1) The clock shows it is after midday . Picture _____ .

2) A marriage has been arranged between the son of Lord
Squander, Viscount Squanderfield, and the daughter of a rich city
merchant . The lawyer who prepared the contract is sharpening his
quill (aiguiser sa plume) and is flirting with the unhappy
bride-to-be ( la future mariée) Picture _____ .

3) This scene takes place in the consulting room of Monsieur
de la Pillule. Picture ____ .

4) Because of the title "countess" we know that her father-in-law,
the old Earl has died. Picture _____ .

5) This scene takes place at night. Picture _____ .

6) The Countess is shown in the course of dressing for the day .
Picture _____ .

8) The young couple, on the left side of the picture sit in
the Earl's house not looking at each other. The bride-to-be (la
future mariée) plays sadly with her engagement ring (bague de
fiançailles). Picture _____ .

9) There are books and papers on the floor showing that a card
party took place the night before. Picture _____ .

10) The Countess is being entertained while getting dressed for
the day : by a singer and a company of friends, including the lawyer,
Silvertongue. Picture ____ .

11) After going to the theatre, the Countess and Silvertongue have
retired in a place where rooms could be taken by illicit couples.
Picture _____ .

12) The lawyer, Silvertongue, holds a ticket for a play at the
theatre and points to a picture of one of the screen behind him.
Picture _____ .

13) The Viscount, a dandy, admires his reflection in a mirror. He
is sitting and taking a snuff (du tabac à priser). Picture
_____ .

14) On the wall on the left is a portrait of Silvertongue, we can
assume that the Countess placed the picture in her room where her
husband is unlikely to come. Picture _____ .

15) The contract gives an opportunity to the future Viscountess to
be engaged in conversation with the young lawyer Silvertongue.
Picture _____ .

16) The Viscount probably did not take part to the card party as
he seems to have just returned home. Picture _____ .

17) They have been caught in a state of undress by the Earl.
Picture _____ .

18) In front of the couple is a black servant boy holding a
figure of Acteon who, in mythology, was turned into a stag (un cerf)
by the goddess Diana after he had discovered her bathing, and was
hunted down and killed by his own hounds (chiens de meute). Picture
_____ .

19) The broken sword of the Earl is on the floor and there's a
woman's lace (en dentelle) cap in his pocket. Picture _____ .

20) The Viscount has with him a very young girl whose cap
resembles the one shown in the previous picture. Picture _____ .

21) Entertaining while dressing was condemned by some as
leading to immorality, and details in the room indicate that the
Countess is of loose morals (de moralité
relâchée). Over her hang erotic Old master paintings, on
the sofa is a copy of Le Sopha, a contemporary French
novel regarded as immoral, and on the floor are invitations to
various parties. Picture _____ .

22) The woman behind the Viscount and the young girl, whose breast
is tattooed with initials FC, indicating her criminal origins may
have procured the girl for the Viscount. Picture _____ .

23) In the lower left corner are two dogs chained together .
Picture _______ .

25) The girl who is evidently distressed, has probably been
infected with a venereal disease by the Viscount, who holds out a box
of pills to the doctor. Picture ____ .

26) The singer on the left seems to be an Italian castrato,
accompanied by a flautist, a highly fashionable form of musical
entertainment at the time (Farinelli). Picture _____ .

27) Silvertongue has stabbed (poignarder) the Earl and can be seen
making his escape through the window on the left. Picture _____ .

28) On the right are the two fathers : the bride's father (le
père de la mariée) examines the contract while Lord
Squander, seated beneath a canopy, points to a family tree
demonstrating his descent from William the Conqueror. He wants to
show that he can not be bothered with such unimportant things as
money. He is resting (reposer) his gouty foot on a footstool. Picture
_____ .

29) On the left side of the picture the couple's household steward
(l'administrateur / l'économe / de la maison ) leaves the room
raising his right hand. In his other hand there are many bills and
only one receipt. Picture _____ .

30) Through the window can be seen the new house the Lord is
building, for which he has probably run out of money. It is built
with no respect to the rules of classical architecture. Picture _____
.

31) The doctor is probably expected to provide the cure for the
young Girl and the Viscount. He has probably tried to cure them as
there are three boxes of pills in the picture. Picture _____ .

32) Through the door on the right, the night watch are arriving
with the man in charge of the hotel. Picture _____ .

33) The woman who holds a folding razor, seems to be threatening
(menacer) the doctor . Picture _____ .

34) On the wall there are violent Old Master paintings and a
pompous and old-fashioned portrait of the Earl. There is also the
picture of a gorgon who is looking at the scene screaming . Picture
_____ .

35) There is a skull on the left, a skeleton and an anatomical
figure in the cupboard. Picture _____ .

36) In the middle of the painting, over Silvertongue who is
escaping, is a tapestry of the Judgement of Solomon. Picture ______ .

C - Symbols . What do the following symbols make you think
about ?

1) The two dogs chained together :

2) The Earl's gouty foot

3) The bills in the hand of the household steward :

4) The chair upside down , the violin and the score (partition de
musique)

5) The skull, the skeleton and the anatomical figure

6) The black spots of the face of the Viscount and the woman who
is threatening the doctor.

II - The sixth picture

D - The last picture of the series is missing . You will see it
at the National Gallery (London). Can you buy a postcard of it and
stick it below :

* Can you tell the end of the story ?

_____________________________________________________________

* Conclusion :

E - The Death of the Countess. Complete the following
description.

The final scene takes place in

Through the window

The couple were rich when they got married but now

A starving (affammé) dog is

On the floor

It seems that the Countess

On the right an apothecary is reprimanding an apparently
simple-minded servant who has obtained the poison for her.